Self-contained heating or cooling suit

ABSTRACT

The inventive concept involves a garment or full body suit that covers the entire body of a wearer including the hands, the feet and the head. The garment can be used in either a cold or a hot environment. The heating or cooling system is controlled by a microprocessor that operates on a mini pump that pumps a heating or cooling liquid through tubes that are imbedded throughout the suit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The inventive concept is directed to cooling or heating the body of aperson in all different climates or environments, whether hot or cold.The only known body cooling device is on the market under the registeredTrademark “Cool shirt”. It is only designed to cool the body of thewearer and that is the upper extremity of a person. Together with the“Cool shirt” there is used a separate bag that contains the componentparts that are instrumental in supplying the cooling medium to theshirt.

Russia has developed and employed a cooling garment under thedesignation of KVO ORLAN Cooling garment. It is a water cooledinsulation garment that is worn underneath the space during space walks.It is a one-piece hooded jumpsuit with long sleeves including a networkof plastic tubes through a knotted net garment with front zipper andstirrups. Polyvinylchloride tubing is strung through the garmentfacilitated thermal regulation using a glycol mixture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed cooling and or heating garment is a full body suit thatcan be used to either cool or heat the body of a wearer and it isself-contained, that is, it covers the full body of the wearer includingthe feet the hands and the head including the ears. By beingself-contained, there is no requirement to carry a bag because thecomponents used for cooling or heating are contained within the suit andcarried thereby.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates the fluid tubes in a full body suit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen in FIG. 1 the suit that covers the full body of a wearershows the front of the suit at 1 and at 5 is shown in light colorincoming fluid that flows through the tubing and at 10 in dark color isshown the fluid that flows out of the tubing. Located within theconfines of the suit there is placed a micro-processor 15 in a box. Alsolocated within the confines of the suit is a heater 20 which couldpossibly be located within the box of the micro-processor 15. Locatedwithin the vicinity of the micro-processor is a heat sensing element 21.Also FIG. 1 shows a fluid pump 25 that is controlled by themicro-processor 15. The fluid pump 25 is responsible to pump the coolingor heating fluid throughout the seat whatever the environment may be.The overall system is powered by a battery which may be contained in apocket of the suit. At 30 is shown a back view of a ski style or huntingstyle suit, while 35 is a front view of an all enclosing head coverstyle or hunting style suit. At 40 is shown a back view of a head coverof a ski style or hunter style suit. In FIG. 1, all Figs. show the innerskin or inner lining 45 as it may be incorporated in all differentversions or specific environments for which the all body covering suitis designed.

The heating or cooling aspect is controlled by a microprocessor forsafety reasons. That means, the suit cannot overheat or in the oppositeit cannot let go of the cooling so that the person wearing the suitcannot freeze. The heating element consists of a motor with a pumpconnected to it. The pump is known as a micro-miniature-pump. The pumpcirculates a fluid throughout the suit and the fluid is known as anantifreeze medium such as polypropylene glycol. The tubes, through whichthe fluid circulates, are embedded or incorporated into the material ofthe suit. The fluid passes through a heating element which isencapsulated inside another container. It is controlled by a sensor likea thermistor. A thermistor is a type of a resistor with resistance thatis proportional to its temperature. Thermistors differ from resistancetype detectors (RTD) in that the material is generally a ceramic orpolymer. RTD's use metal as a source. The temperature response is alsodifferent. RTD's are useful over larger temperature ranges whilethermistors typically achieve a higher precision within limitedtemperature ranges. That is why the use of thermistors is advantageousin the inventive concept. Heating and cooling is achieved through theuse of a peltier device undergoing the peltier effect. Peltier effect isthe change in temperature at either junction of a thermocouple where acurrent is maintained in a thermocouple and after allowance is made fora temperature change. Thermoelectric cooling uses the peltier effect tocreate a heat flux between the junction of two different types ofmaterial. A peltier cooler, heater or thermoelectric heat pump is asolid state active heat pump which transfers from one side of the deviceto the other side against the temperature gradient (from cold to hot),with consumption of electric energy. Such an instrument is also called apeltier device, peltier diode, peltier heat pump etc. Peltier devicesare mostly used for cooling. However, when a single device is to be usedfor both heating and cooling, a peltier device may be desirable. Simplyconnecting it to a low voltage will cause one side to cool, while theother side warms. The effectiveness of the pump at moving the heat awayfrom the cold side is totally dependent upon the amount of currentprovided and how well the heat from the hot side can be removed.

Peltier devices have commonly been known to be used in camping andportable coolers and for cooling electronic components and smallinstruments. But this is the first time that a peltier device is usedfor cooling or heating a garment which covers the whole body of a user.

Peltier devices, depending on polarity, either heat or cool the liquidmedium passing through the tubes of the garment. To operate this systema lithium carbonate battery is recommended.

In the garment or suit disclosed, the heater element operates at about142 W and it will heat water up to 130 degrees F. The microprocessor canbe programmed to maintain a predetermined level of heat. The pump motoris of a micro miniature construction and made of aluminum and it can gethot. This can be taken advantage of when the suit is in a heating mode.The circulatory system takes the heat off the different or variousdevices including the pump and circulates this attained heat through thewhole body suit. The peltier device has a heat exchanger attachedthereto being operative whether in a cooling or heating state. Forheating alone there is just a heating unit attached to the or includedin the circulating medium. The heating device is basically a ceramictube with macro-wire wrapped around the same and then a coating ofceramic material is applied to the wrapped tube including heat fins onthe outside.

For cooling the peltier device is required.

The same suit can be used for both cooling or heating if so desired.

But it is more efficient when the suit is used for one mode at a time.That is so because different components are used for both heating and/orcooling.

When in a heating mode all necessary components are additive in theheating circuitry. The device uses a Pulse width Modulation PWM tocontrol the heating effect including utilizing high power Mosfettransistors. A PWM modulation is a standard by which a digital devicecan generate an analog voltage. A PMW signal can be interfaced to asimple capacitive current to thereby generate an analog voltage.

A Mosfet transistor is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effecttransistor that is used to amplify or switch electronic signals. AMosfet transistor contributes to the heating effect the design of whichincorporates the heat produced to control the heating or cooling elementby the Mosfet and channels the heat into the heat exchange device. Thismethod allows for a very efficient heating with low heat loss. Thisdesign also solves the problem of lost energy while at the same timepreserving the life of the battery.

Another modulation that can be used is the effect of interruptmodulation. This modulation is fully explained in the applicant's ownU.S. Pat. No, 6,194,978.

When in a cooling mode, the components are carried outside of the suitsuch as on a belt. The wind surrounding the wearer contributes to thecooling effect. When in a heating mode, the wearer of the suit can be ahunter on an observation stand where his position can not be detectedbecause the elements of the heating system are operating very quietly.

The life of the battery 26 is estimated at about 8 hours. The life ofthe battery can be extended to a much longer time by keeping the suit oradjusting the temperature to just above freezing in an emergency. It isforeseen that extra batteries can be carried on the person in pockets orretained on a belt or in a backpack. The electric system can also beused by plugging the same into the cigarette lighter of a car or byusing solar energy.

The garment or the suit can be subdivided into four different quadrantsby directing the heating or cooling fluid separately into the fourquadrants. The four quadrants are identified as the upper torso left andright sections including left and right arms and two lower torsosections including the left and the right legs, respectively. If therewere a full suit at all times an active person could interrupt the flowby bending a lower leg, for example, which could choke off the fluidflow. However if subdivided into four quadrants, if one quadrant ischoked off, the other quadrants would still be active and operating.

After all of the above, it now be seen that a very versatile garment orsuit has been disclosed which can be a survival in either a cold or hotclimate. The suit could even be incorporated into a space walking suitof an astronaut.

1. A garment or a full body suit that has means therein for eithercooling or heating the body of a wearer including means for propelling afluid through said suit by way of tubes imbedded in the fabric of thesuit, the said means for propelling includes a fluid pump and a heatexchanger attached thereto.
 2. The garment of claim 1 including amicroprocessor for controlling said means for propelling.
 3. The garmentof claim 2, wherein said microprocessor includes a pulse modulationdevice.
 4. The garment of claim 3, wherein said device is an interruptmodulation device.
 5. The garment of claim 2, wherein saidmicroprocessor includes mosfet transistors.
 6. The garment of claim 2,wherein said microprocessor includes a peltier device.
 7. The garment ofclaim 1, including a heating element that has an energy consumption ofup to 142 watts and can heat water up to 130 degrees F.
 8. The garmentof claim 7, wherein said heating element is constructed as ceramic tubehaving micro resistance wire wrapped there around and again covered by aceramic coating.